Monday, September 11, 2017

The Geography of London's Nightlife

London's nightlife is moving east and northwards, according to a new interactive map of the city's clubs. Nesta's Clubbing Map shows where clubs have opened & closed in London from 2005-2015 and shows that the city's West End is losing its traditional role as the center of London nightlife.

The map shows that since 2005 a large number of new clubs have opened up in and around Shoreditch in London's East End. This suggests that London's nightlife is no longer centered in the city's West End. This perception of a changing geography in London's nightlife is reinforced when you look at the ratio between the number of clubs that have closed and opened over this period.

The Clubbing Map includes a choropleth layer which shows the ratio of opened to closed clubs in each neighborhood with more than 10 clubs. The City and the West End have both seen the highest turnover in clubs, suggesting that clubs in these areas are finding it harder to succeed. Conversely neighborhoods in north London and the East End have seen a far lower ratio of clubs going out of business. It appears that new clubs opening in the north and east of London are able to survive much better than clubs opening in the city's West End.